Rescuers with the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network spent hours evaluating and monitoring the 30- to 40-foot whale as it appeared to be stranded on a beach along FM 3005 near the Terramar subdivision in Galveston, about 50 yards from shore.

“We first got a report from our stranding network hotline about a stranded whale estimated to be about 30-40 feet at length,” according to Heidi Whitehead of The Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, a non-profit rescue organization.

Rescuers spent about five hours Tuesday morning making preparations to get the whale on shore before the mammal passed away just after noon. Preparations were being made Tuesday afternoon to tow the whale to shore and perform an autopsy, Whitehead said.

“We haven’t been able to get close enough to get confirmed species ID so without that, we’re not able to give a definitive age or anything like that,” she said.

It has not been determined what exactly happened to the whale, how or if it was injured or if it was ill, but according to Whitehead, its appearance near the shore suggests it was suffering.

“That’s an age-old question and one we hope to gain insight on,” Whitehead said. “When animals like these diving species come this close to shore they’re usually very ill and close to death. That’s why we ask people not to push stranded dolphins or whales back out because they’re usually on shore for a reason.”

The beach was lined with hundreds of onlookers monitoring the whale’s attempted rescue.

Barbara Sexton lives on Jamaica Beach and and has rescued a turtle or two on the shore, but this was a first.

“We’ve seen lots of porpoise, lots of dolphins, but we’ve never seen one beached,” she said. “I’ve been on the sand almost every day walking along the beach and this is the first time I have seen an animal beached.”

When she received a news alert on her phone about an animal rescue, Sexton and her son immediately made their way to the scene. While rescuers will not be able to determine what happened to the whale until after an autopsy is completed, from her vantage point, it was obvious to Sexton that the whale was not in good shape.

“Who knows why - it may have been from injuries or it may have been from disease - but he looked pretty beat up and scraped up,” she said. “I spent a lot of time down (this morning) by the water watching this guy, so it’s been really sad.”

As someone that lives near the water, Sexton feels protective of any wildlife and witnessing the wayward, stranded whale struggle and then pass was heartbreaking to watch.

“We’ve never seen a whale in the Gulf and then there’s this guy - who looked pretty beat up,” she said. “It’s very sad to see this majestic animal not make it.”